Lots of us face the economic reality of “too much week, not enough money.” Here at the newspaper it’s more like, “too much news and not enough newspaper.”
No matter how much news we chase down, type out and upload to our website or print on newsprint, it’s never as much as there could be. Every week, we run out of time and resources to get to every story on our list. It’s both frustrating and energizing. It keeps us trying and never wanting to give up.
Journalism is hard work and we knew that, we’re just not sure enough of our readers know it. Journalism is not just hard work for journalists, it’s hard work for readers, too. It takes work by both reporters and readers to produce a set of facts and to divide them from rumor, opinion and falsehoods.
The truth is not what a newspaper prints. The truth is what readers choose to believe. If readers want to believe in fake news or only pay attention to facts and news that they agree with, then the journalist’s job just got a lot tougher.
Right now, the biggest challenge for newspapers and journalists is a lack of support and finances. Last year, advertising in America’s newspapers dropped by $4 billion. In 2001 there were 412,000 newspaper journalist jobs in this country. As of 2016 there were only 174,000, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s a loss of two out of every five reporter and editor jobs (42 percent loss.) That’s a hell of a lot of news that’s not getting covered.
Here at Sonoma West Publishers, owners of four local community newspapers, we have shared in the loss of newsroom jobs and depleted resources. Yet, thanks to the internet, smart phones and email — and many devoted readers and community contributors — our newspapers today are reporting more news to more readers than ever before.
But, it’s not enough. Or so various readers tell us just about every week. We hate to hear about a local news story we missed. And readers hate to hear our excuses for why we ran out of time and bodies to get to their story.
Together, what can we do about this shortage of newspaper and unreported news?
We’re glad you asked.
It’s been four months since we launched our new vision for community journalism, inviting our readers and others to invest and become part owners of this newspaper. We are encouraged by the dozens of new investors we’ve attracted, but we need hundreds, not just dozens.
This newspaper survives on paid advertisements from local businesses. Paid reader subscriptions only cover a small percentage of our total costs, even less since tariffs increased newsprint costs. We need new investors and we need more advertisers. And we thank everyone who has continued to support our journalism in the past.
Our reporters do not make a true living wage and our editors and other newspaper staff work many more hours a week than they are paid. They don’t complain, but it takes a toll and it’s not a sustainable business plan.
We are seeking $400,000 in new investments with our Direct Public Offer (www.invest.sonomawest.com.) The new equity will allow us to pay better reporter wages, add new journalism tools and technology, sponsor new community events and hire additional sales and marketing professionals.
When we have more ads, we get to print more pages and report more news. We will never have enough money, reporter resources or extra time to cover all the news all our readers want during any given week. But we will try like hell and always do our best. For your part, we ask that more of you invest, subscribe and advertise. It’s not complicated.
